In the United States, estimated deaths from iatrogenics per year include:
– 12,000 due to unnecessary surgery
– 7,000 due to medication errors
– 20,000 due to other errors in hospitals
– 80,000 due to post-operative infections
– 106,000 due to non-error, negative effects of drugs (this is perhaps most shocking)
(Note: stats from Wikipedia quoting published studies. These numbers suggest that almost 1 in 10 people who die in the US are killed by the medical system)

Iatrogenics are real and the consequences are potentially dire. We live in an increasingly medicalised and medicated world. Somehow we’ve come to trust the intervention of medicine and medication in only mild or pre-emptive cases. Risking iatrongics in serious health (e.g. life-threatening, major injury) cases, where there is a high risk of harm associated with not treating, IS warranted.

Risking iatrongenics for anything less is NOT warranted. Self-management of minor ailments and prevention via a healthy lifestyle is the best way to manage your risk of harm. Medicine is not the panacea to any health woe – lifestyle is.

Case in point: people now get prescribed medication for hypertension (high blood pressure) when they are “pre-hypertensive” – that is, in the acceptable blood pressure range albeit at the high end. A “pre-hypertensive” person is far better managing their lifestyle in order to reduce their blood pressure rather than risking the iatrogenics associated with medicating.

On a political side note: I do wonder what our health spending would be if people only relied upon the doctor for serious health problems.

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Wellness and its ability drive enhanced performance and fulfilment from your life has been a building passion for me over several years, from a time when my own physical and mental wellness was severely depleted. I became acutely aware of the things I was doing and the internal dialogues that were playing out in my mind which helped pull me out of this low point. Adhering to these strategies helped me perform better at work and helped me act and feel like a better person. Everything improved as a result.
Wellness goes beyond health and certainly beyond fitness or vanity because to practice wellness properly requires a level of discipline which carries over into so many other things. This experience spurred me on to build Warrior Wellness so that more people can harvest the true benefit of holistic wellness.